


oh, brother

by scrubclub



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Blind Date, Brotherly Confusion, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Mistaken Identity, Not smut but a little sexy, y'know how it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 10:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20562704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrubclub/pseuds/scrubclub
Summary: Two black-haired, blue-eyed brothers, two blind dates, too many things that could go wrong.





	oh, brother

**Author's Note:**

> well, this was an accident. i have other, serious WIPs that I should be WIP-ing but this popped into my head and refused to go away. my brain went "huh, 'edric' and 'gendry' would be very hard to distinguish if you were lipreading" and then this happened. this is a very silly little story that probably wasn't worth writing, but it has been written all the same. 
> 
> i hope it's fun to read xx
> 
> POVs alternate between Gendry and Arya

**Anguy:** you’ve got a date next Friday

**Gendry:** no I don’t

**Anguy:** gorgeous brunette sitting at the bar after the game last night was chattering on about you and your brother being ‘dreamy football hunks’

**Anguy:** I said I could put a word in and she bit

**Anguy:** 10/10 face, 11/10 tits, green eyes, pretty smile 

**Anguy:** you’re meeting her at the Duck at 8

**Anguy:** you don’t know how lucky you are to have a friend like me

**Gendry is typing…**

**Gendry is typing…**

**Anguy:** i don’t have her name or number, so you can either show up or stand her up

**Gendry is typing…**

**Gendry:** did she actually use the word ‘hunk’?

**Anguy:** you know it, hunk

**Anguy:** trust me, you’ll take one look at her and you won’t care what she calls you

-

Arya didn’t know how she had been roped into this. Shireen was a sensible friend, a friend she could trust, but even so, a blind date at the campus pub? It wasn’t Arya’s thing. But she hadn’t been on a date in months and she was sick of Shireen’s threats of setting up a Tinder account in her name. 

“He’s gorgeous, he’s smart, and he’s on the football team,” Shireen insisted as Arya expressed her apprehension while pulling on her boots, “What have you got to lose?” 

Arya knew that all of this was true. Shireen had shared a photograph of herself and Devan’s lab partner and, sure enough, he was beautiful. He had black hair and blue eyes and an easy smile in the Instagram picture Shireen had used to show him off. He looked cleaner than Arya’s usual type, more proper, but there was no denying that he was handsome. Plus, Shireen had promised that he was tall. Arya knew he was smart because neither Devan nor Shireen would have any time for someone who brought down the chances of them maintaining their impeccable grades. And in attending her first football match of the season last weekend, Arya had indeed seen that this guy was rather good at the sport. He played striker, and he did so very well based on what she had seen from the last row of the bleachers - though if she was honest, Arya had been more impressed by the play of the central defender, who was apparently his brother. 

Regardless, there were few, if any, red flags to be found. He was handsome and Shireen liked him and if they had nothing else to talk about, they could always just talk about football.

Arya took another look in the mirror and adjusted her bra so that her lacklustre cleavage looked slightly more prominent. She wasn’t _nervous_, per se, but she didn’t go on dates all that frequently, and part of her worried that the guy would take one look at her and regret agreeing to Shireen’s matchmaking experiment. “What’s his name again?”

“Edric,” Shireen said, “and you should undo one more button.” Arya only rolled her eyes. 

-

Anguy had described her as a “groupie” and Gendry’s ill feelings towards the evening had only increased. Apparently she had worn a Riverlands University soccer jersey tied up so that her bellybutton was visible and her eyes had lit up when Anguy had told her he knew one of ‘the brothers’ she had been gushing about. “She would probably be happier if you were both around for a bit of fun, but I figured that might be a bit too much to ask of you.” 

Gendry sighed at the bar. It was almost 7:30 and Anguy was doing his best to convince Gendry that the evening would be worthwhile. The pub was already busy, the music turned up and the crowd chattering loudly enough that Anguy had to almost yell to be heard. 

“Look, mate, I’m not saying I’m Cupid. I’m just trying to get you laid,” he said, sliding Gendry a beer. 

“I can take care of that myself, thanks,” Gendry scowled. 

“Yeah, I know, but it’s more fun when it’s with a girl instead of your hand,” Anguy laughed, and Gendry’s scowl deepened. “C’mon, it’s been months since you’ve had a bit of fun. Inexcusable statistics when you consider you’re a tall, hot, footballer with that mysterious, brooding thing going on. You should be drowning in -,”

“Alright!” Gendry said, “I’m here, aren’t I?” Anguy grinned and picked up a bin of dirty glasses to take to the kitchens. Gendry sighed again and glanced towards the entrance, wondering if the girl could possibly be as gorgeous as Anguy had described. It seemed rather unlikely. 

And then he saw her. 

She locked eyes with him and smiled, waving sort of shyly as she made her way over to him. It looked as if she said his name with a tilt of her head, but it was too loud to hear her properly. He nodded as she approached. 

She wore a black button-down t-shirt and dark jeans with little suede ankle boots. She was shorter than he expected, and far, far cuter. 

Anguy had been wrong about one thing. Her eyes were grey, not green - though he figured that in certain lighting they might sparkle like the ocean and play tricks on the observer. 

But she was indeed gorgeous and her smile was certainly pretty. He was admittedly slightly surprised by her chest - Anguy was generally the sort to assign an “11/10” to tits that were rather larger that this girl’s. That wasn’t to say hers weren’t nice, though. They were very nice, in fact. He snapped his eyes back up to hers, realizing that he had just spent two full seconds staring at her boobs. She raised an eyebrow curiously before reaching out a hand to introduce herself. 

“Sorry?” Gendry asked, leaning closer to hear her properly. 

“Arya,” she said into his ear, and he felt a tingle down his spine. Maybe he had been wrong to dismiss Anguy’s taste so quickly. 

-

The photo must have been a couple years old or something, because Edric was _way_ better looking in person. The photo has been nice, but the guy sitting at the bar nodding over at her was an entirely other tier of handsome. His hair was longer than it had been in the Instagram post, his eyes rather moodier. He was indeed tall, though, she noted as he stood up. And _built_. Gosh, Shireen was a good friend. Or a horrible one, considering how very average she felt as he met her eyes.

“Edric?” she asked, though she could barely hear her own voice among the din of the pub. He nodded. She swallowed nervously as his eyes ran over her, pausing briefly on the buttons of her blouse. Part of her wanted to laugh, wondering if he, like Shireen, had wished she had loosened one extra button. Instead, she raised her eyebrows and was pleased to see him look sheepish rather than overly excited (or worse, disappointed). 

“I’m Arya,” she said, and he shook his head and pointed at the booming speaker, leaning down to her. She stood on her tiptoes and repeated herself. 

Edric pulled away and smiled, saying something that looked like “That’s pretty,” though he could have been saying “Thanks, Britney,” or “That’s prickly.” She motioned towards the door with her thumb.

“Do you wanna get out of here?” Edric nodded and took a last swig of his beer. 

-

It was far nicer outside. The air was fresh, he could hear himself think, and he had an unobstructed view of Arya, who he decided was definitely a 10 on Anguy’s totally misogynistic scale. 

“So,” she said, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear, “Where to?” She looked nervous, which made him feel better about the butterflies in his own stomach. 

“Er, I’m not sure,” he said honestly. Before Gendry had seen Arya, he had been half hoping to buy the girl a drink and ditch her. Now he was desperately wracking his brain for ideas. “I don’t do this often.” 

“Me neither,” she said, blushing slightly. “I’ve never done the whole blind date thing before.” 

“Same,” he said, meeting her slightly unsure smile with one of his own. “D’you want to get food?” 

-

“I didn’t think varsity athletes were allowed to eat burgers and chips,” she teased. They were tucked into a two-person booth at a little diner a couple of blocks off-campus. Edric rolled his eyes. 

“We actually have to eat a bunch of calories, since we run so much of it off during matches.” He said it as the waitress set his dish down, the extra french fries he had ordered dwarfing Arya’s own, regular-sized order. 

“That’s a good excuse,” Arya said as she snagged one of his chips and popped it into her mouth with a smile.

“You saw us last week, didn’t you?” He asked, offering her the vinegar first. 

“I did,” she said, “First game I’ve seen all season. You’re pretty good.” It was an understatement, she knew. He had scored twice. But the football team had enough girls fawning over them, surely, and she didn’t want him to get the idea that she thought too highly of him. “Not as good as your brother, though.” He paused and set down his cola. 

“Yeah?” He asked, an eyebrow raised. His didn’t look annoyed or upset, just curious. 

“Yeah.” 

“Alright,” he shrugged. He clearly didn’t agree with her but he also didn’t get huffy over her attempt to bruise his ego. She sort of liked that. 

“You’re better looking, though,” she smiled, hardly believing herself. Where was the nervous Arya of an hour ago? What had happened to all of the butterflies in her stomach? Why was teasing Edric so _fun_?

And why was he so cute when he blushed? 

-

“I have to ask - do you always insult your dates?” Gendry asked her as they left the diner. She insisted on paying, so long as he promised to buy her ice cream later. Arya shrugged. 

“Wasn’t an insult,” she said, “Your brother’s really good.” It was true, Edric was very talented. But Gendry was better, he knew that for certain. And if the previous weekend’s match was the only one she had witnessed, she mustn’t have paid much attention, because Gendry knew he had been the best player on the field. 

“Do you watch a lot of football?” He asked, doing his best to keep any suspicious notes out of his voice. He was genuinely curious. 

“I played center-mid in school but I haven’t played since starting college,” she said, “I loved it, but it wasn’t _my_ sport, you know?” Gendry nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. He had played rugby growing up, and had joined both the rowing and cross-country teams in high school. But football had always been what made him happiest. 

“So what is your sport, then?” He asked. 

“It’s not technically a sport according to the uni,” Arya stated coolly. There was a lightness to her voice, but he could tell it bothered her. “We’ve been downgraded from a varsity team to a ‘student club’ now. Apparently they had to reallocate some funds.” He frowned at this.

“Shit, that sucks,” he said, “I’m sorry.” 

“You should be. They used our money to make sure the boy’s football team got those fancy little nameplates in their locker room.” He froze, his mouth falling open in surprise.

“_What?_ No, that’s - that’s horrible, are you sure -,” Gendry shut up as soon as he saw the smile she was poorly trying to conceal. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” Her laugh was adorable.

“I am,” she said, “Fencing _has_ been downgraded from a team to a club, though, and it does suck.” 

“Fencing!” He said, louder and more outwardly impressed than he had intended, “You know how to use a sword?” 

“I sure do.” 

“Sick.” 

Arya was so different from what he had expected from Anguy’s description, and never had Gendry felt so happy to have that idiot as a friend. 

-

Arya had prepared a list, mentally, of all of the things they could talk about if she ran out of things to say - football, his biology class, the weather, the disastrous state of their government, the new coffee shop opening up by the library, Shireen and Devan’s insatiable need to be the biggest nerds at the school, and so on. 

She found that she had no need for her prepared topics, though. She and Edric had skipped the “So what do you study?” stage and jumped headfirst into “What concert would you go back to see if you had a time machine?”. Edric liked old, heavy rock and roll and he hated movies that took themselves too seriously. He admitted that he was “terrible” at social media, which Arya had to agree with. The boring, clean football Instagram post had seriously undersold just how ruggedly handsome he was. She kept the criticism to herself, though, since he had just owned up to the flaw. 

Edric also had a tattoo, one that poked out of the sleeve of his t-shirt. 

“I’m hoping to turn it into a full sleeve eventually,” he said as she glanced at the bits she could see - there appeared to be some sort of hoof - perhaps he liked horses. Before Arya could ask, he asked her about her own ink. 

“I’ve got a sword on my shoulder blade,” she said. He raised his eyebrows as he opened the door to the ice cream shop. 

“I’d love to see that,” he said, before making a face. “I mean, like… You know what I mean.” She did and she laughed. 

She got lemon sorbet in a cone and Edric got strawberry gelato in a cup. 

-

Gendry was an idiot. What on earth had compelled him to order his ice cream in a cup? Now he was stuck using the little plastic spoon and both of his hands were occupied. Arya’s hand hung at her side, totally holdable, and his hands were busy with his stupid cup and his stupid spoon. 

They walked through the park on campus, Gendry listening intently to Arya describe the time she lost a tooth in a preteen fistfight. “So this one is fake,” she said, drawing her mouth into a wide smile and pointing at a tooth on the top row. 

“It doesn't look any different,” Gendry said, leaning in to get a better look. Arya shook her head and closed her mouth.

“I’ve got a good dentist,” she shrugged, making him laugh again. She was good at that. Up close, he wondered how Anguy had mistaken her eyes for green - they were so clearly a fascinating and stormy grey. She also had a very cute nose, with a small number of light freckles splayed across the bridge. And her lips were pretty, too - though he supposed that he shouldn’t be looking at her lips so indiscreetly. But when his eyes flicked back to hers, he saw that she, too, was looking at his mouth. He swallowed. 

“Oi!” a voice called, and they stepped back from each other and looked over in time to see a worn out soccer ball rolling towards them. Arya stepped to her right to trap the ball and flicked it up to her knee, bouncing it once before catching it on her foot, balancing it for a moment, then popping it up to volley it perfectly back over to the group of students who awaited it. Gendry blinked at her. He wondered what she was like with a sword in her hand if that display was an indication of a sport she _wasn’t_ serious about.

“Impressive,” he said, raising his eyebrows. Arya shrugged. 

“Not as good as your brother.” And Gendry laughed again. 

“He’s not a show-off, though,” he countered. It wasn’t totally true - Edric definitely had a flair for the dramatic sometimes - but the comment earned him a playful shove on the shoulder from Arya as they continued on their way, so she didn’t need to know that. 

-

She was trying to find the red flag. He wasn’t exactly bubbly, but he had a good sense of humour. He had called her a show-off, but that was fair considering she had been showing off. He was far too good-looking to be out with her, but he didn’t seem to want the evening to end any more than she did. 

There had been a moment during which she thought he might have wanted to kiss her, when his eyes had lingered for a moment on her lips. She had found herself looking at his mouth and had seriously considered closing the distance between them. The kiss probably would have tasted like strawberry lemonade and she wished that the soccer ball hadn’t rolled into their way. 

“So where to next?” Edric asked, as they reached the south side of the park and were faced with the ugly concrete chemistry building. She looked at him and decided that she could trust him. 

“Follow me.” 

-

“Isn’t the observatory closed for renovations?” He questioned as they reached the top of the hill and approached the dark building. Arya only looked back at him and grinned. 

“It is,” she said, and he noticed that there was no door on the building, only tape across the entrance warning the public to keep out.

She ducked through the tape and Gendry followed after her, albeit a little more awkwardly - his limbs were significantly longer than hers. 

“What happens if we get caught?” he breathed as they stepped into the wide, empty room. The platform where the telescope would likely have stood was empty. They had cleared out the fancy equipment, leaving nothing but the opened roof panels and the moonlight spilling down. 

“We won’t,” she said simply, “But if there’s danger I promise to protect you.” She stepped down into the room and walked towards the rectangle of light. He followed her automatically, watching as she lay down under the stars. He did the same, doing his best to keep a respectful distance as he settled beside her. 

“I know it doesn’t make sense without a telescope, but I swear the stars look better from here.” 

He found that he agreed. There was something cool about being surrounded by darkness, lying on a cold concrete floor in a small pool of moonlight, staring up at the night sky. And Arya’s hand brushing against his didn’t hurt. A rare wave of confidence took over him and he knotted his fingers through hers, not looking away from the stars. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her briefly turn to look at him before looking back up at the sky. 

“I didn’t expect to end up stargazing tonight,” he said, “or trespassing, for that matter.” Her hand was so small in his, delicate in a way the rest of her wasn’t. 

“What _did_ you expect?” Arya asked. He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Gendry pictured image he’d concocted of the girl Anguy had described, a football shirt tied up above her belly button, eager to meet him and/or his brother, hoping for a drink and a snog and maybe more.

The girl beside him had told him how much better his brother was at football, had stolen fries off of his plate, and had dragged him into a construction site to look at the night sky with her. 

“Not this.” 

-

She liked the way Edric’s hand seemed to envelope hers, warm and rough against her skin. 

“I always thought The Smith looked more like a nut,” she mused, looking up at the constellation in question.

“What?” 

“Look at it, the way it rounds at the bottom.” It was supposed to show a man’s arm clutching a hammer. Edric hummed as he considered this. 

“I guess so. Like an acorn without the stem.” 

“If you include that star up there, it could have a stem,” she said, reaching her free hand up to point at the sky. He snorted. 

“That’s a stupidly big stem.” 

“You’re stupidly big.” 

“Fair.” 

-

“I didn’t expect to end up stargazing either,” Arya said. She let go of his hand and propped herself up to look at him. Gendry turned his head and took her in. Her face was lit up in the moonlight and her eyes seemed to shine like silver. Her hair hung loose around her face, falling just above her shoulders. 

“You’re beautiful,” Gendry said. The words fell out of him without warning. She blinked at him and smiled hesitantly. He pulled himself up onto his elbow and found that they had been lying far closer together than he had realized. She moved first, her head tilting slightly and her eyes landing on his mouth. Gendry closed the distance swiftly, surging forward to capture her lips in his, gently bringing a hand to her face. 

-

Arya would never have believed that the handsome, proper boy in the photo Shireen had showed her would be able to kiss like _this_. He was polite at first, drawing back to meet her eyes and ensure that she had wanted this. 

The politeness faded as soon as she had made her wants clear, and now Edric lay above her, one hand beside her head and the other on her waist, tucked just under the hem of her shirt. He was generous with his lips, making sure to give her jawline and her neck some attention in between the moments when their mouths met. 

She carded her fingers through his hair and wondered if he might let her flip them over so that she could be on top for a little while. Before she could act on this thought, though, she heard the unmistakable crackle of a walkie talkie. They both froze and Edric pushed himself off of her, helping her to her feet. 

“This way,” she hissed, pulling him by his hand towards the emergency door which, mercifully, was not alarmed at present. The light of a flashlight flickered through the circular room and a voice asked if anyone was there, but they were already running.

-

They were breathless by the time they reached the bottom of the hill. Gendry met Arya’s eye as they attempted to slow their heart rates, and they both started laughing. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head at her. 

“I thought you said we wouldn’t get caught,” he said, his cheeks sore from smiling so much. She frowned at him. 

“And we didn’t, did we?” Arya said. 

“It was closer than I’d have liked,” he grumbled, earning himself an eye roll. 

“Oh, relax. You’re just bitter that I thought of a perfect place to make out.” She said it like a challenge, as if kissing him had been a game and she had won just the first round. 

“Wouldn’t call it perfect,” Gendry shrugged, enjoying the way her eyes narrowed at his words, “Pretty cool, yeah. Dangerous. But it has its limitations.” Arya watched him carefully, knowing he wasn’t done. “Interruptions, for example, are a concern.” 

“So where would you suggest, then?” She asked, folding her arms. “If we don’t want any interruptions.” 

“My place is six blocks from here.” 

“Roommates?”

“Nope.” 

-

“I never do this,” Arya laughed as Edric kicked his door closed and moved to continue kissing her. She leant back to pull her boots off one at a time before wrapping her arms around his neck again. 

“Me neither,” he breathed as he pulled back to look at her. She snorted. _As if_. “What?” Edric asked, sounding genuinely confused. 

“You’re the star of the football team and you’re what, 6’3”?” He was a very good kisser and she was not planning on stopping their current trajectory, but Arya wasn’t a complete idiot. 

“I’m 6’4”. And I wouldn’t call myself the star, my brother’s the str-,” but Arya shut him up with a kiss. 

“Stop talking about your stupid brother,” she said, “And really, I don’t care how many girls you’ve taken home.” She pulled at the bottom of his shirt but he placed his hands over top of hers to stop her.

“I’m serious, though,” Edric said, “This isn’t… I don’t meet a lot of people I like the way I like you.” She swallowed at the sincerity in his voice and stood on her toes to kiss him. Then she tugged at his shirt again and this time he obliged, pulling it over his head and tossing it aside. 

Shireen was an amazing friend, truly.

-

Gendry liked the way Arya took him in, the way her eyes ran down his torso and back up again before lingering on his tattoo. 

“A bull,” she said, reaching out to touch the animal. She inspected at the designs around it, tracing the leaves that bordered the animal, drawing her finger along the barbed wire that would eventually lead into a continuation of the sleeve. 

“Can I see yours?” Gendry asked, and Arya’s eyes met his as she nodded and began to unbutton her shirt. He swallowed as she slipped it off, turning around to show him her back.

The sword was thin like a needle, pointed downwards on her left shoulder blade. Gendry ran his thumb along it and she inhaled sharply. “Sick,” he said, and Arya glanced backwards and up at him with a grin. He wondered briefly how exactly Anguy had brought this gorgeous being into his life. 

Gendry brought his lips to her neck again and drew them slowly down along her shoulder. Arya’s hands moved to the button of her jeans before grabbing his own hand and guiding it along her waistline and downwards. 

Fuck. 

-

The last time Arya had gotten laid had been a quick, messy mistake after a summer night of drinking with her friends in King’s Landing. He had been a total stranger and totally average, fucking her once and then offering her a cigarette on her way out. 

Now she lay on Edric’s bed in only her bra and underwear (she thanked her past self for going with a simple, solid black) and she was practically shaking with anticipation. But Edric was moving slowly, so slowly that it was almost cruel. He had laid her down and taken his jeans off before propping himself up over her and kissing her purposefully. He teased her, bringing his hands to her center, but not for long enough to totally ease the ache building in her body. “Please,” she breathed as his lips met her hip bone. She felt him smile against her skin. 

Arya wasn’t sure what she might have expected from a night with the Riverlands University football team’s leading scorer, but she definitely would not have put money on his mouth going anywhere near her inner thighs. His stubble tickled her pleasantly as he moved closer to her, and the feeling inside her was almost unbearable now. She uttered a loud “fuck” as he moved her underwear out of the way and brought his mouth to her. Arya ran a hand through his hair as he put his tongue to use. She bucked against him and his name escaped her lips as a moan. 

-

“Edric.”

She had been perfect. She tasted so good, she looked so beautiful from here, her lips parted in pleasure and her eyes dark. Even before he had laid her on his bed, before he had brought her home, even before he had kissed her in that observatory, Gendry had felt as though she was something special. As though this flukey blind date might turn out to be something special. 

And then she had called him Edric. 

He pulled away from her, wishing that the disappointment and want in her eyes hadn’t felt like a punch to the gut. 

“Pardon?” he spat. He didn’t mean to sound angry, really, but it was rather disheartening to have your head between the perfect girl’s thighs only to hear her moan your brother’s name. 

“What?” she asked, looking confused and slightly breathless. “Is something wrong?” Had she not realized she’d done it? Was her interest in Edric so subconsciously ingrained in her that she moaned his name without even noticing?

“Er, well… yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck and looking anywhere but her eyes. 

She propped herself up, her teeth worrying her lip as she looked at him. “If you don’t enjoy doing that, it’s alright,” she said, nodding towards her midsection. “I don’t, like, expect it or anything.” He stared at her, his brows knitting together. 

“What are you on about?” Gendry asked, “Of course I was enjoying that, I wouldn’t have stopped if you hadn’t called me that.” 

“Called you what?”

“Edric…,” he said, wondering how she hadn’t noticed the wrong brother’s name coming from her lips. Arya looked at him as if he was speaking a different language. 

“What else would I call you?” she asked, sounding a little bit annoyed now. Oh. She thought he was his brother.

-

“Gendry,” he answered flatly, concern and confusion etched on his face, “I think you, uh, got us confused. Sorry if you were hoping for Edric.” Arya’s mind went blank for a moment before a thousand conflicting questions seemed to enter it all at once. 

“I - What? Of course I was ‘hoping’ for Edric,” she snapped, “He’s the one I had agreed to meet.” He looked hurt at these words and she shook her head, utterly lost. 

“Well, I guess I didn’t get that memo,” he said bluntly, “Sorry about that.”

“You should be” she spat back, standing up and stalking by him to pull her jeans back on. “Whatever weird brother-swap shit you two get up to is your business, but you should at least be upfront about it.” She swept into the kitchen to pull her shirt on. 

“You really thought I was Edric this whole time?” he said, stumbling into the kitchen after her as he pulled his jeans on. She struggled with a button before huffing and giving up, grabbing her boots instead. 

“Yeah, _Gendry_, because he’s the one I was told I’d be going on a date with.” He scowled at her as she said this. 

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint, then,” he said, and she turned away without responding, slamming the door on her way out.

-

He stared at the door for a moment before shaking his head. He was going to kill Anguy. Anguy had clearly told Arya that she was getting Edric - superstar, clean-cut, leading-scorer Edric - and figured that the brothers were similar enough that she wouldn’t notice. And she didn’t, at least not until he had told her his name and she had made it very clear that he was _not_ the brother she wanted between her legs.

Gendry grabbed his phone from the countertop, ready to send Anguy a very strongly worded text about consent, friendship, and the absolute idiocy of the whole thing. 

He was distracted, though, by the number of notifications he opened his phone to, including dozens of new messages and four missed calls - three from Anguy and one, oddly enough, from his brother.

-

She was furious and confused and completely disappointed. What kind of freaks did that? Was it some sort of douchey game they played, seeing how many girls they could pull while pretending to be the other one? Gendry clearly sucked at that game, though, considering how quickly he broke as soon as she said Edric’s name. _Moaned_, a voice reminded her, _not said_. 

Clearly Shireen did not know dear Edric as well as she had hoped, seeing as the weirdo had sent his fucking brother along in his stead. 

Arya couldn’t wrap her head around it. No, really, it didn’t make sense. Why had Gendry acted all offended? Why had he bothered to look hurt when he was the one who had lied? 

She grabbed her phone from her purse, already mentally drafting a text to Shireen. She looked at the screen and froze. She had fifty-seven new message notifications, all from Shireen or Devan, and Shireen had called her no fewer than twelve times. 

-

**Edric:** hey did you leave the Dornish Duck with a girl called Arya?

**Edric:** I think you stole my date hahahahaha

**Edric:** Anguy and I are pissing ourselves laughing at the bar, let me know how it goes. 

**Edric:** hope you don’t mind if I return the favour. 

**Edric:** yeah, I’m stealing your date, bro, she’s stupid hot. have fun with Arya!

**Gendry:** ???

**Gendry:** please call me back

**Gendry:** do you have Arya’s number?

**Gendry:** Ed call me

**Gendry:** I’m sure you’re busy having sex with my would-be date right now but I swear to every god I know, if you don’t call me back ASAP I’ll tell coach Lannister that you slept with his niece

-

“WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?” Shireen cried on the other end of the phone, “Dev, it’s her, she’s alive. Don’t send that text to Sansa. Arya, are you okay? Where are you?” Arya was only a couple of blocks from their flat when she had checked her phone, but she hadn’t wanted to keep Shireen waiting any longer. 

“I’m almost home, Shireen. I’m fine, I -,”

“Why didn’t you show?” Shireen demanded, “Edric texted me to ask if you were on your way and I thought it was funny since you had left sort of early and then he texted me again saying you hadn’t shown up and he said it was fine if you weren’t feeling it but then you didn’t respond to my texts for hours and Edric also stopped responding and you wouldn’t pick up your phone and… Shit, Arya, I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere.” Arya sighed and walked up the steps to their front door. 

“I have no idea what’s going on, Shireen,” she said truthfully as she searched for her key. If Gendry had been confused and Edric had been confused… She frowned to herself. 

“What? Did someone drug you?” Shireen demanded as Arya slumped through the door. “Oh fuck, Arya.” Shireen dropped her phone on the couch and rushed over to her friend. “What happened?” 

Arya couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s concern as she moved to flop down into an armchair. Devan sat at the dining table, watching her worriedly. “I’m fine, Shireen, honestly. No one drugged me, I promise. I’m just confused.” 

“Yeah, me too,” Shireen breathed, “You stood Edric up?” Arya stared at her and then found herself laughing. Shireen and Devan exchanged a glance. 

“I think I may have accidentally gone on a date with Edric’s brother,” Arya said, “And I think it was the best date I’ve ever been on.” 

“Is this why your shirt’s unbuttoned?”

“What? Oh, shit.” 

-

Gendry awoke to the buzzing of his phone against his chest. He had slept on the couch in his jeans. Squinting at the unknown number that lit up his screen, he frowned. _Not Edric_, he thought glumly as he hit the ‘Ignore’ button. 

Immediately, a text came through. 

**Unknown:** are you seriously ignoring my call?

**Gendry:** who is this?

**Unknown:** your brother gave me your number. 

**Unknown:** you know, the brother who’s not quite as good at football? 

Gendry sat up straight, fully awake now. 

**Unknown:** apparently you and your brother were both supposed to meet blind dates at the Duck last night and you and I sort of fucked everything up

**Unknown:** sorry I assumed it was some creepy brother-swap sex thing

**Unknown:** can you please say something, you’re stressing me out

**Gendry:** hi

**Gendry:** so you do think I’m the better footballer?

**Unknown:** seriously?

**Gendry:** have you had breakfast?

-

“Okay, that was amazing,” Arya admitted, patting her stomach happily as they left the diner. 

“Right?” Gendry said, “Their bacon is unmatched. I’m gonna have to do a lot of running around at practice this week to work that off.” 

“There are other ways to burn calories, you know,” Arya said. 

-

For a brief moment, he wondered just _how_ he had managed to stop in the middle of this last night. Why had he cared what she called him? She could call him whatever named she pleased, whatever worked for her, really. 

But then she shifted her hips against him and his name - his actual name - escaped her lips and _oh._

**Author's Note:**

> the girl anguy sets gendry up with was joy hill, who in my head has lannister green eyes but brown hair. sorry for using you as a prop, joy.


End file.
